Bellerby Globemakers: It All Started when He Needed a Gift for His Father

I last posted a Bellerby & Co video a year ago. So it must be time to post some more . . . because those Bellerby videos, they just keep a comin’.

This first one is from the annual EG Conference for creatives, in which Peter Bellerby tells the full story of how he became a maker of globes.

The next shows the craftsmanship that went into the creating of a globe for Royal Ascot’s “World Like Nowhere Else” campaign.

And finally, in this video we get to hear from a couple artisans behind the scenes. (By the way, that really, really big globe that they’re making—it’s the Churchill. It’s 50 inches in diameter and costs £79,000, or about US$99,000. But if you want one, you’ll need to act quickly, as they’re only making 40, and you have to wait a year before delivery.

So, would you like to join the Bellerby team? From the company’s hiring page (actually, right now, it’s more of a we’re-not-currently-hiring page), here’s a list of “personal qualities we look for.” It’s not at all a bad set of skills to have on hand:

• Patience is the most important thing in globe-making!
• You will incorrectly make a globe every day for 6 months, you could then do one perfect and then next 10 will still fail. You have to not get easily frustrated and be stubborn and passionate about the role to get it right & not want to give up . . . it is a long learning process.
• Light with hands and aware of space around you. You are working around a lot of delicate items.
• Nimble fingers . . . good with precise cutting with a scalpel/blade.
• Work well as a team and work well in a SMALL team.
• Though a very social family-like atmosphere, the studio is very quiet most for long periods of time as each role takes concentration. You must like a very serene environment—it will be the opposite of a normal office job for most.
• Quick to learn and eager to take on new responsibilities and learn new skills.
• Good communication, hard worker, not afraid to get your hands dirty, capable of multi-tasking. . . .
• Keep a clean, tidy and organised work space.

[photo: “The Big Egg Hunt NY: Egg 3,” by gigi_nyc, used under a Creative Commons license]